A group of American journalists have urged Peter V’landys to consider bringing an entire NRL opening round to the United States – convinced such a bold play is the best way to crack the US sports market.
On the eve of this Saturday’s Allegiant Stadium blockbuster, NRL executives are bracing for is shaping to be a new record crowd for their bold Las Vegas experiment – which this year includes the Newcastle Knights, North Queensland Cowboys, Canterbury Bulldogs and St George Illawarra Dragons.
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English Super League clubs Hull KR and Leeds are also here.
And speaking with Fox Sports Australia this week, New York Post journalist Mark Cannizzaro has insisted rugby league can make a dent in the psyche of American sports fans, despite the concept still having its share of critics back home in Australia.
A pair of TV reporters from CBS and the ABC have also urged the NRL to expand its efforts Stateside after having spent this week on the ground interviewing players and covering fan events, training sessions and the Fremont St Experience.
An NFL writer whose beat includes both the New York Jets and Giants, Cannizzaro has been to all three years of NRL openers here in Las Vegas, in the process becoming a fan of the game and its myriad storylines.
“First year here I knew nothing about the sport or the personalities involved,” he said. “I couldn’t have told you a rule, and had no idea even what a ‘try’ was.
“So I’ve had to educate myself a little bit, and that’s been a blast.
“Because I love a good story and there are so many good stories here at this event.
“Last year we had Nathan Cleary and his father. And Warriors coach Andrew Webster, who played rugby league in Connecticut, right near where I grew up.
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“Now this year it’s Valentine Holmes, who was part of the NFL International Development Program. And with the Jets, the team I cover in New York.
“So after coming here three years ago and not knowing what to expect, I’m now certainly more educated about the game, and enjoy talking about it with the guys.”
Asked how the NRL could make more fans of the game like himself, Cannizzaro said: “it’s all about television exposure”.
“As you know, TV drives the bus,” he said.
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“And it also sounds like there are plans [for the NRL] to expand the number of cities and numbers of games played when they come here each year.
“Speaking with people this week, there has been talk of going to places like Miami and Nashville.
“It was also suggested to me that all 17 teams may come over and play at once.
“And while that’s obviously a big commitment financially, the more you flood the zone — using a football term — the more you’ll grab attention.
“So you have to keep presenting it, get it on free to air television … you do that and people will watch.”
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Elsewhere, CBS television reporter Sunny Tsai explained why she has also decided to cover the NRL Las Vegas blockbuster this week, including a feature piece on St George Illawarra’s Valentine Holmes.
“When I saw [the NRL] was in town, I was really excited,” she said. “It’s something that is newer to the American audience, so I pitched to my boss saying ‘OK, let’s go do a story on these players’.
“I’d already covered Sevens Rugby when I was in Texas.
“And that was awesome.
“I’d done stories on players from Australia, from New Zealand … they were so cool, the rugby was awesome and I wanted to showcase that to our audience.”
And why Val Holmes?
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“He’s just so interesting,” Tsai said. “You don’t see a lot of rugby players try out for the NFL, or vice versa.
“I’d actually say less Americans would go to another country and try a new sport at the highest level.
“So I think his story is very inspirational.
“He was playing in the NRL at 19 — which is crazy — then goes off to try the NFL, then comes back and you’re one of the best players in the world again. I think that’s really inspirational and something I wanted to talk to him about.”
So as for how the NRL grows the game here?
“Awareness,” Tsai continued. “While I’ve covered rugby before, I’d never heard of the NRL.
“So I just think it needs more advertisement, so people understand exactly what the NRL is.
“I’d like to see more activations.
“People at the Fremont Street experience, at Oz Fest, those are great. And now they need more things like that to get people really hyped up. You don’t just want all the people watching this game in Las Vegas to be fans from Australia.”
Another US journalist at the Canterbury Captain’s Run on Friday, was ABC reporter Brandon Bossert, who spoke of their being “tonnes of interest in Las Vegas this week”.
“And it’s definitely an amazing event,” he said. “With so many people travelling from Australia and the United Kingdom, too.
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“And while I’ve only seen highlights so far, the game seems to be a faster paced version of American football.
“In the NFL there are stoppages. Plays go for five to seven seconds.
“But your game is more continual play, which really peaks my interest. That and the toughness of the players.
“To see them out there without pads … [smiles] it’s very interesting to watch.”
Cannizzaro, meanwhile, said that after three years of covering NRL openers in Las Vegas, there was no doubting this years’ is the strongest in terms of buzz, organisation and the size of activations.
“While all three years have been spectacular, this year feels bigger again,” he said.
“There’s been more fans at Fremont Street and events like with the captains, which was in a bigger venue, a nightclub, than in previous years.
“So it definitely feels bigger, and more buttoned up.
“Which isn’t to say [the NRL] weren’t organised previously, but you can tell they’re benefiting from having had two years here already.”
And as for what he loves about the game?
“Just how wide open it is,” he said. “When I heard ‘rugby’, I was thinking rugby union — which is a lot more about scrums and so on.
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“But in rugby league, you see so many breakaway runs and returns.
“It’s so fast paced, so exciting, and there really should be an appetite for that among US sports fans because we like that over here.
“It’s 80 minutes of fast action, and I feel that’s something that should attract US sports fans.”
But the greatest selling point for NRL executives, he insists, are the collisions.
“That’s the most attractive thing to sports fans here,” he said. “Because with the NFL, while we’re used to crunching hits they all have helmets and pads on.
“I was talking to Valentine Holmes this week about his time in the NFL, and he said how so many of his NFL teammates went onto Youtube to check out his highlights and were blown away by how they go at each other without pads.
“I remember last year here too, in the Jillaroos game, there was an English player who was out cold for about five minutes. She was taken off on a stretcher.
“And of course, nobody wants people to get hurt.
“But there is an element to that which attracts sports fans, who love the crunching blows and the big hits.
“In the NFL, guys are penalised for what is a normal everyday hit in rugby league.”
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